asked the Minister for Defence if he will make a statement regarding the grazing rights on the Curragh, County Kildare, including especially information as to when these rights first arose; how they arose; and what persons are entitled to graze animals there.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Curragh Grazing Rights.
68.
The grazing rights on the Curragh, County Kildare derive from grants of certain lands surrounding the Curragh, which were made after the dissolution of the monastic institutions in Ireland and which included a right of commonage over the Curragh.
Under the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1868, three Commissioners were constituted to ascertain, among other things, what (if any) rights of common of pasture existed on the Curragh. The Commissioners made their award in 1869 and it is embodied in and confirmed by the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1870. The award set forth that the Curragh should not be grazed by any animals except sheep; it listed the persons whose claims to rights of common of pasture were allowed; and it set out the number of sheep which each such person was entitled to graze. The total number of sheep for which grazing rights were allowed was 7,957.
Since the passing of the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1961, grazing rights in respect of 1,432 sheep have been voluntarily surrendered in connection with the inclosure of portion of the Curragh for horse racing and training purposes. It was also agreed in the same connection that a further 307 rights, vested in the Minister for Agriculture, would not be exercised again. Two further rights have been surrendered in connection with the provision of a site for a school.
The present position is, therefore, that grazing rights for 6,216 sheep may be exercised on the Curragh. The persons holding those rights are successors in title to persons who had claims allowed by the 1869 award.